Association Of Catholic Bloggers

We Christians should laugh at ourselves as we go through the inner transformation because most of our inner anguish is self-inflicted and really quite ridiculous.  Of course dying to self is not all fun and games but a sense of humour helps put our pain in perspective. continue reading

As the Morning Rising: The Cross : The Cross is the hand of God that I dare not let go of.

All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle. Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words. continue reading

(From John Martin, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.) Anger is bad, right? Yes, sort of, but it's a bit more complicated than that. Emotions, anger include, are good; in the sense that they're part of being human. They're "...the connection between the life of the senses and the life of the mind...." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1764 ) In another sense, emotions aren't good or bad by themselves. What matters is what we decide to do about them. (Catechism, 1762 - 1770 ) More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

As the Morning Rising: Mary's Way : Mary’s Way No foot of ours could fill the shoe of Mary But we can follow on the path she trod Keeping to the stepping st...

We continue with the fourth installment of our seven-part series on the seven deadly sins. Today we discuss Gluttony. Gluttony, the overindulgence of eating/drinking to excess, will physically and spiritually harm you if left unchecked and unaddressed. Overeating/drinking can result in physical illnesses such as diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and liver disease, just to name a few. Gluttony robs you of the life you were meant to live, because you become the slave to the object of your temporal desire. You become fixated on the food and/or the drink. Gluttony causes you to use food and/or drink to ... Read more...

Jesus is the Face of God: He is God made visible. He is the incarnation of mercy. Moreover, mercy is the principle theme of his preaching and is manifested in how he treated people. We could say his middle name was Mercy. Jesus met people’s physical needs. In a synagogue he read his job description: “He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free” (Luke 4:18). When John’s disciples asked who he was, Jesus replied, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them” (Matt 11:4-5). Click to continue

As the Morning Rising: St Faustina : Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for...

" Even if we have thousands of acts of great virtue to our credit, our confidence in being heard must be based on God's mercy and His love for men. Even if we stand at the summit of virtue, it is by mercy that we shall be saved. " - Saint John Chrysostom For a very long time, despite reading and hearing wisdom to the contrary, in the depth of my being, i equated holiness with the lack of discomfort. You know that state with  the  absence of those disconcerting moments when you know deep down you have done wrong/are doing wrong yet continue to banish the thought. When you don't want to deal with, nay even acknowledge,  your own weakness. When you think having being a renewed Christian means having only pure and holy thoughts. From experience i tell you, thats a load of bladderdash. No one can ever hope to become saint overnight. It truly is a long winding journey acknowledging and being fully aware of the grossness of  one's  sinful soul. All through th

As the Morning Rising: St Francis of Assisi

For the feast day of St Francis on the 4 October, I am beginning a series of blogs on the life of St Francis of Assisi. In 1209 St Francis of Assisi who the medievals called The Second Christ presented his first rule, totally based on the Gospel, to the great Pope Innocent III in Rome. No saint has ever had such an impact on the history of Christian Spirituality. He was born towards the end of 1181 or at the beginning of 1182. The date might mean little, so let me put it in the context of English History. Henry II was on the throne of England with his equally famous or infamous wife Eleanor of Aquitaine. He is remembered by most of us from our school days for three things. Firstly, he was the first of the Plantagenets. Secondly he was the first to set up law courts or assizes for all. Thirdly he was the first to have a blazing row with the church that culminated in the famous murder, when Thomas Becket the Archbishop of Canterbury, was savagely cut to pieces by three knights in

We continue with the third installment of our seven part series on the seven deadly sins. Today we discuss Lust. Lust causes you to objectify the “object” of your desires, rather than to see the individual as a human being deserving dignity. When you remove human dignity from the equation, it becomes very easy to lose respect for others and for yourself. Lust is disordered desire for, or inordinate enjoyment of, sexual pleasure. Sexual pleasure is morally disordered when sought for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes . 1   Lustful behavior is addictive.  Repeated over and over again, it deludes... Read more... 

As the Morning Rising: Blessed Columba Marmion : http://www.catholictradition.org/Passion/lent7.htm http://www.benedictinemonks.co.uk/ http://vultuschristi.org/index.php/2011/...

WHAT IS LOVE? ARE YOU INTERESTED ENOUGH TO FIND OUT? THEN CLICK HERE

Angels saved my son’s life. The phone call comes on a Saturday night. I listen to the police in shocked silence. “Your son has been in a serious car accident.” “No, we have not ascertained the extent of his injuries.” “We did use the jaws of life to extract your son and his girlfriend from the vehicle.” “No, I told you, I cannot tell you the extent of his injuries but if you head over to Trauma 1 at the Civic, they will give you an update.” “All I can tell you is it seems that the vehicle did flip end over end and then barrel-rolled down into a ditch filled with water.” “Off the record, I will say that in 25 years of service, I have never seen a car look as bad as his does and not have someone dead on arrival.” continue

As I have been struggling to draw the fine line between mercy and truthful compány when adressing an homosexual person I want to share with you the best balanced advice I have found yet and it comes from the recent words of Pope Francis in this regard. Very clear and useful. taken entirely from CNA Catholic News Agency site:   Aboard the papal plane, Oct 2, 2016 / 03:55 pm ( CNA/EWTN News ) .- On his way back from Georgia and Azerbaijan Pope Francis criticized what he called the “wicked” push of gender theory in schools, but stressed that individuals who struggle with their sexual identity ought to be treated with mercy, as Jesus would do.

(From Radomir Vrbovsky, via Wikipedia, used w/o permission.) (دروازه ایشتار, Ishtar Gate, eighth gate of Babylon's inner city: a reconstruction using original bricks in the Pergamonmuseum , Berlin, Deutschland.) Prophets had their bad days, too — like Habakkuk, from today's first reading ( Habakkuk 1:2 - 3 , 2:2 - 4 ): " 1 How long, O LORD? I cry for help but you do not listen! I cry out to you, 'Violence!' but you do not intervene. "Why do you let me see ruin; why must I look at misery? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and clamorous discord. "Then the LORD answered me and said: Write down the vision Clearly upon the tablets, so that one can read it readily. "For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint; If it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late." ( Habakkuk 1:2 - 3 , 2:2 - 3 ) This was about 26 centuries back, and not a good era in our Lord

'From the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.'  Colossians 1: 9 Reflection by Malcolm Davies When I was  first a Christian I was convinced that I would grow so rapidly that I would be totally mature and integrated within a few years. The reality was  that each small part of growth would be followed by a challenge where I realised that my growth would be very slow. One book that  helped me on my journey was Interior Castle by Teresa of Avila. In that book Teresa describes the journey to spiritual maturity and how long it would take.  I felt encouraged  because I could see in my own life some growth that she described and challenged because there were insights that I could not embrace at this part of my journey.  I have come  to realise that God is patient and I have to be patient with myself, and others, as well. Read on:  http://susannetimpa

(From Wiley Miller, via GoComics.com, used w/o permission.) (Wiley Miller's January 16, 2016, Non Sequitur. The field of major candidates has narrowed considerably since then.). I have no great enthusiasm for November's election, but I plan to vote with whatever prudence and wisdom I can muster. Being a good citizen, contributing to the good of society and taking part in public life, is part of being Catholic: or should be. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1915 , 2239 ). In my country, that includes voting intelligently: thinking about issues and candidates, voting for whoever and whatever is best; or likely to do the least damage, in some cases. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

From The Cloistered Heart